Darkness Bound
by DragonWarrior135
Summary: Post Shadow Kiss. Just when Rose thinks she's finally found Dimitri, her world is turned upside down again.The very nature of Moroi society is overturned as new allies and enemies appear that enlighten Rose to the fact that...maybe...Mason was wrong?
1. Prologue

Darkness Bound

Summary: Takes place after Shadow Kiss (oblivious of Blood Promise ;D) Just when Rose thinks she's finally found Dimitri, her world is turned upside down again. After meeting Dimitri's friends and family, her search for him becomes more complicated than ever. The investigation deepens, and Rose stumbles across a startling discovery: "What do mean, Mason was _wrong?_"

A/N: Wasn't that just the most horrendous summary you've ever seen in your life? Wow. I'm amazed at how much the summary sucked .. And like a said, I'm ignoring Blood Promise completely :), so the names are different. And Hell yeah, Dimitri ain't Strigoi! Anyway, yeah…I started writing this around idk…February, 2009? It's just been lying around, and I figured that I should at least get half the story done before posting it. That's epic-failed. I'm putting it up anyway. By the way, I'm really not trying to rip off Spirit Bound's title. I just noticed that like two minutes ago….And without further ado…The Prologue!

~Prologue~

Rhonda shuffled her tarot cards uneasily, there was no mistaking it. The man who she had just preformed a reading for; she couldn't believe how long it took her to figure out that he was Zoya's grandson. Should she call Zoya? Rhonda defiantely owed it to her, afterall, she had learned to do Tarot reading from her. But to tell her that her only grandson was to suffer such a fate, it would be too cruel.

A knock on the door startled her out of her reverie, the Dragomir princess stuck her head in, "Excuse me, but can you please tell me what element you specialized in?"

Rhonda found that to be a strange question. But then again, if she had answered truthfully, it would be equally as strange. Though it was true that she had specialized in air, she always had a low concentration of power in the other three elements, and her mastery of air wasn't exactly what one would call stellar. Then again, all those who could tell the future were had somewhat of the same condition, some not able to specialize at all. There would be no point in telling the princess though, what would she care? Vasilisa would probably just blow it off and think her a freak.

"Air, why?" she asked, summoning up a breeze to hide her half lie.

The princess sighed, "Nothing, thank you," before closing the door.

Somehow, in between the princess' question and her sudden departure, Rhonda made her choice. After all, she'd rather just call Zoya rather than having her fellow seer figure it out herself. Picking up the phone, she dialed slowly, just in case she chickened out at the last moment.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three.

And just when the finger on the "end call" button twitched to hang up, a voice sounded over the line. "Алло?"

The was no turning back now. Rhonda tentatively began, "Hello, Zoya? It's me Rhonda, your student?"

The woman on the other end immediately transitioned from Russian to slightly accented English, "Ah, Rhonda, how have you been? It's been a while since we last spoke,"

"Listen, I met your grandson today," Uneasiness dripped from every word.

"Oh, you did? How is Dimitri?"

"Fine. For now. I looked at the cards, and the outlook isn't too bright," There was a sharp intake of breath over the line, but when Zoya spoke, she wasn't panicked.

"Well," Zoya said calmly, "I guess we'll just have to alter the future,"

* * *

Mason found his flickering form in the snowy landscape of Siberia, listening to the wind howl but not really feeling its sting against his skin. This, apparently, is where the Strigoi had gone.

But where were they?

Looking left and right he saw that there not only were no Strigoi, there were no living creatures whatsoever. They had certainly chosen a place out of the way of humanity. Letting himself drift across the landscape, he searched for any sign of the living, well, the undead.

He neared some caves nearly buried in snow. They couldn't have gone far-

There.

A lone figure stood in front of the caves, clad in a duster and pale purple scarf. His gut feeling was that it was a Strigoi, for some reason, spirits seemed to have an inclination against the Strigoi, and always could tell the living from the not-quite-dead.

He floated right to the figure, thinking that since no one else could see him, this one would be no exception. Indeed, the Strigoi's red eyes stared right through him. Looking the vampire closely in the face, Mason tested his memory for faces.

He was not happy with the result.

_Belikov?_ Mason groped for an alternative in his head, but there was none. It had to be. This strigoi was none other than Guardian Dimitri Belikov. Had he been captured by the Strigoi and turned?

_Oh man, oh man, oh man. Not good. What am I going to tell Rose? She'll go into hysterics! She'll try to kill him! She'll get __**herself**__ killed! Christ, why do __**I**__ always get stuck in situations like this?_ Mason was almost in hysterics himself. What was he supposed to do? Lie?

_"Mason! Mason, I NEED you! Mason!"_

Rose's voice suddenly seemed to boom through the empty landscape, and Mason almost sighed, he hadn't expected her to demand information before he could come up with something!

Letting himself fade out of Siberia, he let Rose's will pull him to her. She was in the on-campus church, a look of wild desperation on her face. Her eyes were red, and she looked like she hadn't eaten or slept in days.

"Mason," she sounded like she was already in hysterics, "is Dimitri dead?"

A bolt of pain shot through Mason's un-beating heart. He had almost nodded, but he couldn't. He couldn't lie to Rose. Not when it mattered this much.

Hesitating, he shook his head slowly.

Now he saw a burst of hope, "is he alive?"

It took all his will to shake his head again. _I'm sorry Rose. I'm so, so sorry._

It was as if her world had shattered to pieces in the instant that she understood the weight, the meaning, of his responses.

"Mason…is Dimitri…a strigoi?"

Averting his gaze, Mason nodded, a pained expression on his face.

* * *

"Looks like your time here is up, Mase, you deserve to be on the other side," Rose looked up at him, smiling grimly.

Mason merely smiled back, he'd miss Rose, but he was tired of wandering Earth, not being seen or heard. Closing his eyes, he prepared to see the "heaven" or "hell" he'd always been told about.

Instead, he once again found himself in front of the caves in Siberia.

Belikov was there again, but this time, he didn't stare through Mason.

He was leering right at him.

What a sinister, wicked sneer. As if to say, _I've got you now. _Finally, Mason noticed something that would change everything. This was definitely not Dimitri Belikov.

Oh, God. This would everything. Heaven could wait, he needed to get back to Rose-

The Strigoi doppelganger's smile widened, finally speaking in a light soprano voice, "Back to your girl? I'm sorry to say you won't be there to see her," With a cold laugh, the strigoi waved her hand, and Mason felt himself being **willed **away. He began to cross the border to the "other side." Struggling in vain to stabilize his increasingly flickering figure, his voice sounded in the human world with stunning clarity.

_Rose! You're in danger!_

The Strigoi smirked at the empty space where Mason had been and suddenly a bone-chillingly wicked laugh echoed through the desolate space.

* * *

Well, that's the prologue ^^; chapter one will be up in a few days! Sorry for any mistakes, I'm terrible at spelling grammar and stuff of the like.

Please review if its not too much trouble! Flames will be used soley for my entertainment.


	2. Chapter 1

Darkness Bound

Summary: Takes place after Shadow Kiss (oblivious of Blood Promise ;D) Just when Rose thinks she's finally found Dimitri, her world is turned upside down again. After meeting Dimitri's friends and family, her search for him becomes more complicated than ever. The investigation deepens, and Rose stumbles across a startling discovery: "What do mean, Mason was _wrong?_"

A/N: I'm sosososososososo sorry this took so long! *bows* I owe you guys! Speaking of which, this story got a lot more views than I expected :D. To those who reviewed, fav'd, and alerted, thank you!

Alright, in this chappy, I introduce two of Dimka's relatives (who I have given my own names for), and if its confusing, Just PM me and I'll be glad to clarify things for you!

**Disclaimer:** Really, if _Vampire Academy _were mine, Dimitri wouldn't be a strigoi, and Adrian would have a sexy girlfriend (though not Rose sorry Adrian/Rose fans D:). And honestly, if I owned VA, would I be writing _fan_fiction?

~*Chapter One*~

There he was.

From my place up in the nearest tree, I decided that there was no doubt about it. I had found him. Considerably easily at that. Dimitri stood with a human girl, his back turned to me. A flicker of jealousy shot through at the sight of him talking with another girl. But then I reminded myself that she would probably just end up as his midnight snack.

Clutching my stake in my right hand, I waited for the right moment to spring out from the tree and finish what I had set out to do. I didn't have to mull over hesitancy or remorse, since a simple stabbing probably wouldn't kill him anyway.

_3...2…1…_Those were defiantly not tears running down my face, whatever emotion I was displaying did not reach my heart. Hand tightening around my stake, my muscles coiled like a spring, readied to lunge.

_Now!_

Suddenly, I was flying through the air, stake held high above my head. I remember once joking that I had awesome ninja skills. But right now, I felt like an assassin silently flying towards my target, aimed to kill. You can't help but feel awesome when you're quite literally a ninja assassin, even if your actual motive might not be as cool as a ninja assassin's.

But I digress.

The ground rushed up to meet me, and I poised the stake so that when I landed, it would pierce straight into his heart.

Closer, closer, I was falling so fast, would it really end…just like this?

Apparently, not.

Just before the stake pierced his skin, Dimitri whipped around, shoving the girl to the side. Following her terrified scream was the screech of metal grinding against metal. The edge of a silver stake had deflected mine. Fierce chocolate eyes met mine, and, gritting my teeth, I prepared to swing the stake again-

Wait…what?

For a moment, the scene seemed to pause. I stared into those eyes again. Those dark, chocolate colored eyes.

Without a trace of crimson red.

My gaze moving down to the petite hand grasping the silver stake, I had a bit of a revelation.

_It isn't a Strigoi._

Cut me a break, I'm a little slow.

Speaking of slow, in the middle of my shock and awe, I seemed to miss the fist heading straight for my face.

_Well, shit._

I was sent flying back into the wall of a nearby building. Which hurt like _hell_ I might add. With a deafening crack, I felt the back of my head slam into the brick behind me. Black and white sparks filled my vision, and blood buzzed in my ears. I found myself rendered unable to function properly.

Standing over me, his sigh seemed awfully high pitched. And then the human ran back to him, "Wow, Duscha! Wish the guardians were here to grade you on that!"

_Duscha? It isn't Dimitri?_

With another sigh, the person whose identity was currently debatable towered over me, and began speaking in a very non-Dimitri voice, "Coming at a dhampir with a stake? Tch. That's a new one,"

As if to hurt my pride even more, the voice revealed I had not only gotten the wrong person, but the wrong _gender_ entirely. That certainly would not score me coolness points back home.

Struggling with the words, I choked out, "Who…who are you?"

"You don't even know who I am?" A lofty laugh filled the cold air, "You have a hell of a greeting," Extending a slender arm out, she pulled me to my feet, "The name's Duscha. Duscha Belikov,"

Suddenly, the prospect of getting beaten up by this girl wasn't so bad after all.

(Dimitri POV [I know, finally, right? XD])

It was cold. Bitterly frigid, like ice.

Just like home, I decided.

Opening my eyes, I noticed that inevitably, my neck ached. Groaning slightly, I moved my hand to rub my neck, only to find that an iron chain restricted my hand from rising above my shoulder.

In that instant, I snapped out the haze that blood loss had put me in_._ Indeed, there were shackles around both my wrists, connected to the walls, how old fashioned. Apparently, the Strigoi had somehow renovated what appeared to be the inside of a mountain. Like in a prison, long bars extended from the stone ceiling to the ground, with a locked door located as far as humanely possible from the prisoners (or prisoner, rather), whom were chained against the back of the cell, in the opposite corner.

_дай мне перерыв…_

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, something remarked that this was awfully similar to a medieval dungeon. _As if that's going to help at all. _I tilted my head upward, exhaling slowly, watching the puff of breath float towards the top of the cave before disappearing.

The next moment, I was slamming my head into the wall. Damn, damn, damn! How could I be caught? Let myself be taken down by the very creatures I'd trained my whole _life _to kill? I had no right to preach anyone. How could I, when I even failed to follow my own rule? _Never Hesitate._ I had been so caught up in the moment, so worried about Rose, that I-

_Rose!_

Suddenly, jerked upwards, realizing what the situation must look like to someone who didn't realize I was still alive. _They must think I'm dead._ I wasn't dead, and I was very lucky not to be. (I mean, come on, the chances of a Strigoi capturing you and keeping you alive?) They probably had held a mass funeral for all those "killed" by the Strigoi. And although I would never want to cause my _Roza_ grief, that was not the worst case scenario.

_What if…she thinks I've become Strigoi? _The scenery suddenly spun wildly around me, as my brain ran at a ridiculous pace to keep up with the scenario building in my mind. And with the lack of blood, I found myself slumping back down against the wall of the cave, unable to focus on my surroundings, terrible scenes flashing through my mind.

Rose wouldn't waste a minute to come after me. She'd drop out of school, run away _again._

And if God forbid she actually made it here, what would she do? Against all the Strigoi that I was sure were just _crawling_ through the caves? She'd be killed!

And why? My mind flashed back to that day in the van, when we had made an agreement.

_"If I were a Strigoi…I'd want someone to come kill me…"_

"DAMNIT!" Why did I have say that? Life shouldn't be this clichéd!

_Rose, Roza! Please, don't come after me!_

"Really, the first thing you have to say after sleeping for all this time…"

I jerked upward again, the chains jangling at the sudden movement. The voice was smooth, cold, and devoid of life. Without a doubt, Strigoi. I glared in the direction of the voice, presumably my captor. Two figures stood in front of my little prison, one lanky, yet tall, clearly a full-grown Moroi man. The other, petite, the frame of a thin child. An adolescent maybe. 14 or 15 at the most. The man stepped forward, his youthful subordinate in tow. A wicked smirk was plastered on his face, and the moment he stepped into the light, I realized this wasn't the first time I had seen this man.

_Broken glass, broken objects, sometimes broken bones._

_The same cruel smile on his face as he shoved my sister aside, facing my mother with eyes filled with lust. "Now, shall we continue where we left off last?"_

Yes, I had seen this man plenty of times in my life, his cruelty and all. And really, Moroi or Strigoi, there was no difference.

"Damien," I growled lowly, hate seeping into every sound that escaped my lips, sounding plenty like a Strigoi myself.

"Now, now Dimitri," his expression changed to one of mock chastisement, "Is that anyway to address your father?"

* * *

Cliffy! Sort of. I'm evil :D, I guess.

And Guess who can't write in the POV of sexy vampire men?

Stephanie Meyer.

Oh, and me. Yeah, especially me XD

By the way, if you were wondering, I think _дай мне перерыв _is something along the lines of "You've gotta be kidding me" I'm not Russian, so its probably off -.-

Oh yeah, if you notice any stupid errors, don't be afraid to bring them to my attention!

Reveiws, advice, and critism are all accepted! Pointless flames will be laughed at. Actually, even if they have a point, I'll probably laugh at them.

Thank you!


	3. Chapter 2

Darkness Bound

Summary: Takes place after Shadow Kiss (oblivious of Blood Promise ;D) Just when Rose thinks she's finally found Dimitri, her world is turned upside down again. After meeting Dimitri's friends and family, her search for him becomes more complicated than ever. The investigation deepens, and Rose stumbles across a startling discovery: "What do mean, Mason was _wrong?_"

A/N: Shh, I totally didn't cave from pressure and not update for an uber long time. That was all your imagination...

...

**I'M SO SORRY Q-Q**

Anyway...Yeah, so after my computer frying itself and totally forgetting about this for serveral months, I got a research paper (due tomorrow...haha). In my desperate need to do SOMETHING besides research, I typed ALL THIS 8D. Yeah, so if you think its full of crap, tell me, but also tell me WHY its full of crap, or else I'll be sad D:.

So, more characters this chapter. Soon I'll have enough to have a rave party with them in my mind -club music-. Now, I've kept you from the next chapter long enough...enjoy? ;D

* * *

~*Chapter Two*~

"Alright, so let me get this straight. Without even stopping to think or _checking _to see if I was a Strigoi first, you decided to jump out of the tree?" Duscha was laughing hysterically, "What kind of guardian are you?"

_Clearly, not a very good one. _I sat there for a few more minutes, my head throbbing like _crazy_, trying to comprehend what she had just said. Actually, that would be giving me way too much credit. In reality, I was still trying to comprehend how I had blundered into Dimitri's _sister_ of all people (assuming they were actually siblings and it wasn't the biggest coincidence ever to grace mankind). Duscha and Dimitri looked an awful lot alike, with the same lean figure (although Duscha was about my height) and rich brown hair. But Duscha was so much more animated, not afraid to hold her emotions for all to see.

After the initial...mess, Duscha had formally introduced herself as a guardian, then dragged my ass to a hotel room before I could say a thing so she could make sure she hadn't caused any permanent damage. I decided she kind of reminded me of myself. She was certainly just as crazy/instinct oriented, since she had simply deemed me innocent because I seemed it and even went as far as to help her almost murderer to a hotel room to check for wounds. In this sense, she was nothing like her brother. The human had followed without a word, watching me the way one might eye you if you told them you were about to raise the devil using silly string and a my little pony doll. Skeptical, with copious amounts of doubt regarding my sanity.

"Uh… Duscha? I'm not sure you should be talking so lightly to a girl who just jumped at you with a stake…" The human girl had a valid point, though I was still confused as to why she even_knew _about stakes and guardians and such.

"She wasn't trying to kill _me_. I think she just got the wrong person," Duscha leaned over and still smiling though there was a sense of bitterness in her eyes, "Am I right? Rosie?"

My head snapped up in reaction to my name, "How did you know my name?"

"Ah! So she speaks!" Duscha smirked widely, tapped her forehead, and answered omnisciently, "I can figure things out in ways no one else can,"

_What the hell…_Some was clearly overdosing on the happy pills.

Duscha fell backwards onto a bed, heaving a relaxed sigh, while the human watched me tentatively from a position next to her.

I decided to try and strike up conversation with her. Well, really, I was equally curious as she was suspicious, and I wanted answers. When Rose wants answers, she gets them. "Hey, you're a human, aren't you?"

_Wow, wonderful opening Rose. I bet you just revealed a whole new side of reality to her._

The look in her eyes was screaming "thank you, captain obvious". There was something else as well, as if I had just struck a nerve and possibly increased her suspicion. She gave a wry smile, "My, I wonder _how_ you figured that one out," With her golden blond hair and petite figure, she almost reminded me of Lissa. A Lissa stripped of her regalness and jade eyes. This human had eyes the color of amethyst, which I didn't even know was possible. I had to admit though, they were pretty damn cool.

"Ugh, that's not what I mean. I'm sure you get asked this all the time, but how do you about us—the moroi society? Are you…a feeder?" Not likely. Feeders weren't let out of vampire establishments very often, and as far as I knew this was an all-human town. However, my brain was groping for an explanation, and anything would work,

She made a face, as if I'd just insulted her. She pulled the collar of her turtle neck down, revealing a pale neck bare of scars. No bite marks. Not a feeder. "Please. Don't think that low of me. I may not have a place in my society any longer, but I'm not willing to spend my life letting those fuckers use me for my blood,"

Whoa. Nevermind about her being like Lissa. Language, darling, language.

"Wouldn't that make you an a-alchemist?" I stumbled on the term, seeing as I had just learned it a couple days ago. A _very_ pissed off human had come up to me a while ago, saying that I was bringing the vampire world too far into the light, with all the "murdered" bodies strewn over the city, and had given me a crash course on alchemists (along with his number for future uses), all the while keeping my arms length and shooting me looks one might give a deformed mess.

"Ugh, I wish," She groaned, as if she had to explain this often, and she was not happy about it, "I'm one unlucky ones. Either way, they don't give alchemists jailors,"

"We **jailors** prefer **guardians**," Duscha interjected, and I could tell she immediately regretted it.

"Wait, you're a human who needs guardians? Just who the **hell** are you?" There was a shortage of guardians for the royal Moroi, and they were handing them out to humans?

The human looked nervous, as if explaining could get her into a mess. She glared at Duscha, who suddenly took an interest in her boots. But that look also held fear and uncertainty.

Duscha waved an arm lazily at her, "It's fine, if she jumps at us with a stake, I'll just kick her out the window. She ought to know, at least so she doesn't accidently spread it by asking around,"

"Alright…" She seemed to trust Duscha's promise of safety, and relaxed slightly, "We'll start here. The names Valeriana, and I—"

"Wait, what?" She flinched, and I bit my tongue for speaking so harshly, "Sorry, I'm just confused, and suffering from a maybe-concussion. Could you run that by me again?"

"Valeriana. I really don't mind if you call me Val or Valerie or something," she shrugged, and continued, "I'm one of the few humans who's had the misfortune of stumbling upon your world, so as you can imagine, everyone's trying to either keep my mouth shut or get rid of me,"

The way she said it made it seem like a half-truth, and there was a _lot_ more that got her wrapped up in this society.

"So that's where the guardians come in? They keep you safe from the ones who are out to kill you?"

"Ha! As if! That's a lie they try to tell me I'm not too sore about them taking my life away from me. Really, I'm under 24 hour surveillance so they can make sure I don't flap lips about their precious secret society," She stopped there, giving Duscha a look that said 'you got us into this, so its your turn to explain'.

"We work shifts, about five to eight hours each. We aren't supposed to let Valerie out of our sight," Duscha was quiet for the first time since I had met her, equally reluctant to speak as Valeri-gah-Valerie. She recited her responsibilities as if they were her orders, word for word, "or let her have extensive contact with humans. If she begins speaking about vampires, we are to silence her immediately, by force or otherwise. If she runs, we are to restrain her and imprison her permanently. If she shows even the slightest aggression towards a Moroi, we are to kill her."

Clearly, the Moroi society has no belief in the freedom of speech. It must have been a terrible existence. I was still confused though. Humans sometimes found about vampires, but very few of them were forced to live with them and hide away. After all, that's what people like Lissa who had super compulsion were for. It was considered immoral to use compulsion, but I knew at this point the royals cared very little of what was moral and immoral to the rest of us. A human knowing about us was a huge threat, and "immoral" was a small price to pay for the safety of our entire race.

"But I don't understand. Couldn't they have used compulsion to erase your memories or convince you it was a dream? "

She stared me straight in the eyes, focusing her purple gaze on me, "See these?" she asked, prying her eyelids wider for emphasis, "You haven't ever seen eyes this color before, right?"

Either I was absolutely crazy, or her eyes began to let off a faint glow. I was pretty sure her question had been rhetorical, but I nodded anyway.

"Apparently, they light up, too. I really can't tell since, y'know, they're my eyes. Anyway, they tried the whole compulsion-brainwashing thing, but it turns out these pretty purple glow-in-the-dark things are resistant to compulsion," As my mouth dropped open in utter shock, she looked away, mumbling, "And as if **anything** could convince me that was a dream,"

"W-w-w-wait…You mean, people **can't **use compulsion on you? At all?" I had never heard of an ability like this exsisting, and would expect it much less from a human. Man, that must have been horrible. I knew what it meant to lose the sight of the sun and its warmth, but at the very least I had Lissa to keep me company and a home to back to. But a human wouldn't have any place to go, or anyone to stay with them. No wonder Valerie looked so pressured, she couldn't speak to other humans if she feared for her life. And if she was let into an academy, she wouldn't have a place there, either. Dhampirs and Moroi both looked down on humans, something I didn't really understand. It was probably jealousy, since fear of humans had forced Moroi into hiding to begin with, but also because they were so much more skilled and powerful.

But there was still something missing. She was keeping something from me, and I didn't quite know what.

Suddenly a phone rang, shattering the silence and the tension that had built up over the past few moments. Valerie sighed deeply, as if she knew what the call was going to say, and it was a pain in the ass. She had a two-word conversation in Russian before snapping her phone shut, looking as if she wanted to chuck it across the room, "Duscha, he's here." I assumed she meant the next guardian.

Duscha rolled her eyes, "Of course, show up after midday, great idea. I swear, something is wrong with that man,"

Valerie tried to laugh, but it came out strained, "Sorry to have to make you walk me down so late,"

"'s all right, it's my job. And unlike the Moroi charge I could've gotten, you're not a total pushover snob," Duscha stood up and waited as Valerie gathered her stuff before the two walked out the door. Neither of them said a word to me, but somehow I knew I was supposed to wait in the room until Duscha got back. I would've anyway, since finding Duscha was the biggest lead I had to Dimitri and I was way too damn curious to leave anyway.

As soon as the door clicked behind them, I fell face forward onto the bed, burying my face into the pillow.

And let out the most frustrated scream in the world.

_WHY DO I HAVE TO DEAL WITH ALL THIS SHIT?_

~^*^~  
(Back to Dimitri whee~)

"Surprised?" His sneer widened until I thought (hoped?) it might snap his face in half.

"Not really," still glaring at him, I leaned back against the wall, "Because you know as well as I do that there's really no difference either way, Moroi or Strigoi, "

"Now now, there's no need for spite, my little Dimka," he always talked to me like a misbehaving child, which disgusted me (and not to mention creeped the hell out of me).

And really, it was _pissing me off. _Letting out a low hiss, I felt my glare intensify.

"My, my, you've become so scary, where are those manners I worked so hard to teach you?"

"I think if we were to trade insults about terrifying manners, you may not come out with the upper hand,"

His sneer faltered, and a mixture of fear and satisfaction shot through me. Fear in his presence was what he had aimed to teach me during my childhood, and he had done a good job, seeing as its presence was still engraved into my mindset. And really, if he had been that terrifying as a Moroi, I'd hate to see what being a Strigoi had done to his malevolency, not to mention strength. Of course, I felt satisfaction, he was by all means my worst enemy, and I'd relish every moment he lost his composure. (I'd love his death even more, but I can't hope for too much at once.) I tensed slightly, ready to feel a boot to my ribs or something.

Instead, he laughed, regaining his mask of playfulness and apathy, "Well, I see you haven't lost any of your wit. Although, of course, I've left my impression on you quite well," He tilted his head towards me, as if observing a specimen. He had always treated me like that. Like an experiment. And right now, it seemed as if he was admiring his results.

For some reason, I suddenly had the urge to make sure there was nothing for him to admire. Mirroring his wicked grin, I let hate drip from every word that left my mouth, "It seems I've let my impression on you as well. Is it embarrassing to have to explain where you got those scars from? I see even becoming a strigoi couldn't get rid of them." I had lost control when I was younger and beaten him absolutely senseless. I only remember wanting to beat him beyond recognition—kill him even, and the next thing I knew my sisters were dragging me off him. He still had scars that ran straight across his face.

He grimaced, but otherwise there was no change in his demeanor, "Yes, I do remember you being quite an irrational child. I can assure you it was quite unnecessary,"

My blood boiled in my veins. How dare he say that? Quashing my anger, I responded slowly, "The only thing that wasn't necessary was you. But I guess we were completely necessary for your _experiments_, weren't we? Can't blame you though, I guess you're so pathetic you couldn't even compel anyone else into submission,"

Ah, Roza, your sarcasm has taught me well.

His dark eyes flared, and I could tell I had chipped his pride. After all, _no one _called him pathetic. His pompous pride would simply _not _allow. However, he restrained from sucking my blood until I was a husk or tearing my body into pieces, "Amusing. I can almost taste your anger. You always get angry when there is absolutely no need to be,"

It was as if someone has set every part of me on fire. For some reason, no matter how much I trained myself to keep my emotions in check, this man always managed to make me want to tear out his entrails and hang him with them.

"No need to be? I can hardly say that whenever you're involved,"

"Hm? And just _why_ is all that anger of yours so necessary?" He was baiting me. He wanted me to get angry. It was as if he wanted me to lose it completely. Knowing this, I knew the best strategy was to stay quiet and wait for him to finish me off.

But sometimes, the bait is just too much to pass up.

"Something about _parricide _just gets to people for some reason. I tend to hold grudges against people that tortured my mother and..." I closed my eyes. Fire everywhere, blood splattered all over the ground. Bodies strewn left and right, the rest of the people in hiding. Fearful eyes and a shrill voice crying out before she was taken away. I hadn't expected him to come back. I had expected him to pick up the broken pieces of his pride and leave. He wasn't supposed to come back. Especially not with a pack of the living dead.

"And...?" That ever sinister voice, exactly the same in life as in notquite death.

"And I don't think highly of the sick bastard who killed my sister,"

Even now, it stung. I had been sent away to learn how to protect my family, not leave them vulnerable when they needed it most. The world failure was ringing in my mind, and all the hate in hell simmering in my blood.

"Oh, is that so?" his lips curved into a smile again, "are you sure that I killed her?"

My veins, which had been boiling second ago, froze over. No, he couldn't have. He **had **to be lying.

The devil began to laugh, a bone-chilling sound, and motioned to the one who had entered the cell with him. His assistant hadn't uttered a sound the whole time, but now finally stepped into the dim light, which reflected eerily on their white skin. Cold eyes, a mix of the deepest black and crimson, seemed to bore right though my eyes, and out the back of my skull.

I suddenly saw those eyes again, a light hazel color, full of life and laughter.

"You wouldn't dare,"

"Oh, but I would," Damien chuckled, "It would be such a waste to kill something with so much potential. I can't believe you actually thought I would waste it,"

_No…_

_It would be a terrible fate…_

She smiled sweetly at me, the way she would when she'd stolen my favorite book and didn't want me to know. The way she would when she ate her twin's share of cake. The type of smile that was meant to remind you how much you loved her in an attempt to overshadow whatever naughty thing she did. And god, the thousands of memories it did bring back.

Though, since she had probably been a little more than naughty, it was good to find an appropriate balance for it.

_…A fate worse than death…_

"Long time no see, brother."

"...Anya."

* * *

To be continued...OAO *imposing latin opera music!*

Ugh, it's too short...and complicated...and sucks...gaaahhrrr...TT^TT

Review if you can, but I'm not gonna be too pushy about it!

TO MY HISTORY ESSAY, AWAAAAYYYYY.


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